Economy

Construction Jobs Build, But Labor’s Tight

September 16, 2017

Thirty-four states and the District of Columbia added construction jobs in the year from August 2016 to August 2017, reports the Associated General Contractors of America, analyzing Labor Department data. Hiring likely would have been stronger if not for a shortage of workers.

Seventy percent of companies report having a hard time finding craft workers to hire. “Firms in most states are expanding their headcount to keep pace with growing demand for many types of construction projects,” said Ken Simonson, chief economist for the AGC. “While it is too early to tell what impacts Hurricanes Harvey and Irma will have on the sector’s workforce, there are not a lot of unemployed, experienced workers available to travel to Texas or Florida to help communities rebuild.”

California added the most construction jobs in the past year. (47,400 jobs, 6.1 percent). Other states adding a high number of new construction jobs in the past 12 months include: Florida (35,000 jobs, 7.3 percent); Louisiana (15,300 jobs, 11.1 percent); Texas (15,200 jobs, 2.2 percent) and Nevada (11,600 jobs, 15.3 percent).

Rhode Island (17.6 percent, 3,200 jobs) added the highest percentage of new construction jobs during the past year, followed by Nevada, New Hampshire (12.2 percent, 3,100 jobs) and Oregon (11.7 percent, 10,600 jobs.

Sixteen states shed construction jobs in the past year. Iowa lost both the highest number and highest percentage of construction jobs (-5,900 jobs, -7.3 percent), followed by Illinois (-3,000 jobs, -1.4 percent) and Missouri (-2,100 jobs, -1.7 percent).

Other states losing a high percentage of construction jobs in the past year include South Dakota (-2.9 percent, -700 jobs), Nebraska (-2.9 percent, -1,500 jobs) and Wyoming (-2.4 percent, -500 jobs).

Thirty states added construction jobs in the month from July to August. Maryland added more than any other state (3,200 jobs, 1.9 percent), followed by Florida (3,100 jobs, 0.6 percent), Texas (2,600 jobs, 0.4 percent) and Kentucky (2,400 jobs, 3.0 percent).

Rhode Island (5.4 percent, 1,100 jobs) added the highest percentage of construction jobs for the month, followed by Kentucky, New Mexico (2.9 percent, 1,300 jobs), and Nevada (2.0 percent, 1,700 jobs).

Seventeen states and D.C. lost construction jobs between July and August, while construction employment was unchanged in three states. South Carolina (-2,700 jobs, -2.8 percent) lost the most construction jobs for the month. Other states losing a high number of construction jobs include New York (-2,600 jobs, -0.7 percent), Arkansas (-1,500 jobs, -2.9 percent) and Missouri (-1,200 jobs, -1.0 percent). Arkansas lost the highest percentage of construction jobs during the past month, followed by South Carolina, North Dakota (-2.1 percent, -700 jobs) and Nebraska (-1.8 percent, -900 jobs).

Association officials welcomed the mostly positive data, but continued to urge federal, state and local officials to act on the recommendations included in the association’s Workforce Development Plan. The key to encouraging more young people to pursue high-paying construction careers is to offer more career and technical education programs.